schooLit 2026: Fikri Anıl Altıntaş – Zwischen uns liegt August

The feeLit – Heidelberg International Literature Festival will be making its second appearance at halle02 with its authors from July 2 to 5. Our festival venue will be all about books and writing. This year, feeLit will showcase national and international literary stars and bring authors together with their audiences. 

schooLit 2026: Fikri Anıl Altıntaş – Between Us Lies August

Moderator: Philipp Neumayr

Author Fikri Anıl Altıntaş explores images of masculinity, anti-feminism, family history, and the deconstruction of masculinities shaped by migration. For feeLit., he will read from his latest novel, “August Lies Between Us,” and engage in a conversation with the participating school classes about role models, expectations of masculinity, and the question of how young people can develop their own ideas of strength, vulnerability, and belonging.

An adult son loses his mother. In the weeks leading up to her death, daily life sets the rhythm: cooking, waiting in hospital hallways, hoping, and grieving. Stories creep into this daily routine—those that have always been told, and those that shine through from behind them. A novel about leaving Turkey behind and starting anew in Germany, about the often unbearable distance from those who are physically closest to us—and about the desperate desire to make up for lost love.

Fikri Anıl Altıntaş, born in 1992 in Wetzlar, lives and works as an author in Berlin. He studied political science, Eastern European studies, and ethnology in Tübingen, Istanbul, and Berlin. In his writings, essays, and literary works, he explores images of masculinity, anti-feminism, family history, and the deconstruction of masculinities shaped by migration. His debut, *Im Morgen wächst ein Birnbaum*, was published in 2023, followed in 2025 by the novel *Zwischen uns liegt August*. Altıntaş is also a volunteer HeForShe ambassador for UN Women Germany.

The workshops and readings are free for Heidelberg schools and will take place at halle02. To register, emailfeeLit@heidelberg.de. Space is limited.

Good to Know

• Onlycashless payments(debit card, credit card, contactless) are accepted at our venue:halle02.de/cashless
• Seated event; open seating
• Local organizer: FeeLit – Heidelberg International Literature Festival